Woman Says Fentanyl from Duragesic Patch Caused Son's Death

DALLAS - An Oklahoma woman has sued the manufacturers of a Duragesic pain patch that she says was defective and leaked a fatal dose of fentanyl into her son's blood stream. Langwell v. ALZA Corp., et al., No. 06-2251 (N.D. Texas).

In a lawsuit filed Dec. 7 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Diana Langwell alleges that Janssen Pharmaceutica and ALZA Corp. were aware that the process used to manufacture its patch failed to ensure that safe levels of the painkiller Fentanyl were administered to patients using the device.

According to the complaint, the companies had …